July 24, 2013

Defensive tackle Jay Ratliff may be out at least two more weeks, as Cowboys choose to play it safe

When defensive tackle Jay Ratliff strained his hamstring in conditioning drills and was placed on the physically unable to perform list, the Cowboys said they weren't concerned and expected him to make his training camp debut sooner than later.

One week into camp, sooner is starting to look like later. But the Cowboys are remaining patient, optimistic and unconcerned.

Coach Jason Garrett said Ratliff is at least two weeks away as the Cowboys are playing to safe because of the injuries that caused Ratliff to miss 10 games last season.

"He's in rehab and doing all the stuff he needs to do but we don’t anticipate him being on the field at least until next week and it might be a couple of weeks," Garrett said. " But again, it’s still early. We play the extra preseason game, we are here a week earlier than everyone else so we are going to air on the side of caution with those guys.

"Most recently it is the hamstring but we were going to be cautious with him with regard to his groin and the other issues he had last year," Garrett said. "He looks good. He’s working hard but he’s got to take it day by day and hopefully he will be back soon."